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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23224645">Unfold</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/complicatedships/pseuds/complicatedships'>complicatedships</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020), 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020) RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>9-1-1 Lone Star - Freeform, F/M, Owelle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 11:41:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,502</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23224645</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/complicatedships/pseuds/complicatedships</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After Michelle fights with Billy in the bar, Owen finds her outside engaging in an old habit. Michelle opens up about her past</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Michelle Blake &amp; Owen Strand, Michelle Blake/Owen Strand</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Unfold</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Owen has been sitting at the bar babysitting his drink for the last hour. He knows he’s not supposed to drink during his treatments, but he figures one won’t hurt. He’s at a loss with something in his life, if it can even be considered “something”. He’s still seeing, or sleeping with, Zoe, but his feelings for Michelle grow stronger every day. Michelle doesn’t know, at least he doesn’t think she does. They have this odd flirtationship thing going on, nothing more. They invite each other out every now and again, but it rarely ever works out. They either have a long shift or personal issues to deal with. It may seem a little dramatic, but it’s killing him not being able to take her out. He catches a glimpse of her across the room, she’s standing in front of Billy. He can’t hear what she’s saying, but she’s clearly pissed off. Owen knows it’s not his place to step in, so he sits back to observe. Of course he won’t let it get out of hand, but he knows Michelle can take care of herself. He sees Billy reach for her hand and she smacks it away, then takes a step back. He can only make out some of what she says,<br/>
“Stop, you need to leave”.<br/>
Michelle turns away from him and asks the bartender for a drink. Billy puts his hands on her waist from behind. She quickly turns around and throws her drink in his face. Owen raises his eyebrows and turns his head away, he doesn’t want Michelle to see him watching them. He can hear her slam the glass on the counter. He glances up to see her storming out of the bar. Part of him wants to follow her, but part of him knows it’s none of his business. Reluctantly, he stands up and makes his way outside. She may have already left, but he can’t push away his need to check on her. To his surprise she’s sitting against the building a little ways past the door. He can see a cloud of smoke form above her head, and he’s even more shocked. There’s no way Michelle Blake would ever smoke anything. He stops a few feet beside her,<br/>
“What are you doing?”<br/>
His voice startles her and she quickly puts out the cigarette.<br/>
“What are you doing?” She deflects.<br/>
“You smoke?” Owen asks, trying not to place any judgement.<br/>
“No.”<br/>
She stands up, still leaning against the wall.<br/>
“At least not all the time, sometimes life gets to be a little too much.”<br/>
She gives him a meek smile, and quickly realizes that answer doesn’t satisfy him.<br/>
“Once every six months or so, is that better?”<br/>
She can feel her face get hot. She doesn’t owe him an explanation, but feels compelled to answer him.<br/>
“Are you okay?”<br/>
Owen completely ignores everything she just spilled to him. She is grown and he is sure she doesn’t need a lecture on the health risks. He also knows she would eventually bring up him drinking while doing chemo, a conversation he wants to avoid at all costs. What he really wants to know is if he needs to confront Billy about anything because he doesn’t have a problem with that.<br/>
“What? I’m fine,” she says, confused at the sudden change in subject.<br/>
“Right. So, I saw you throw your drink at Billy.”<br/>
Owen put his hand on the back of his neck, nervous as to what her reaction might be.<br/>
“You saw that?”<br/>
Michelle looks over at him and crosses her arms over her chest.<br/>
“Yeah..”<br/>
Owen’s voice trails off. He doesn’t know what to say next, he doesn’t want to pry.<br/>
“It was nothing really. He just wouldn’t leave me alone.”<br/>
She tried to assure him. However, Owen knows it was so much more than that. He noticed the way she shrank away from him whenever he got too close or too loud. It may not have been intentional, but it was noticeable. Michelle meets his gaze without saying anything more. She can tell he has a million questions. The silence begins to get awkward. She has an opportunity here, to open up to Owen. It would definitely strengthen the bond they have and she wants that more than anything. The thing is, no one knows what happened between her and Billy. She never talked about it, never had the desire to. She had pushed that part of her life as far away as she could.<br/>
“Come here,”<br/>
Michelle whispers, waving her hand at Owen. She slides down the wall back to her sitting position.<br/>
“I promise I won’t relight my cigarette,” she says sarcastically.<br/>
“I would hope not,” he chuckles and sits next to her.<br/>
Their bodies are close enough to feel each other’s body heat, but not close enough to touch. Michelle can feel her heart start to race, as it always does whenever she’s with him.<br/>
“What’s said between captains, stays between captains, right?”<br/>
Michelle asks the familiar question gently, but she already knows he would never tell a soul. Owen looks at her sideways, a little worried about what’s coming next.<br/>
“Of course,” he nods.<br/>
“Billy loves to win, he loves to be right, and he loves to be in control. As much as he loves those three things, they’re rarely ever the case.”<br/>
Michelle pauses and lays her head back against the bricks. She doesn’t know how to tell this story, as she’s never said most of it out loud. She exhales deeply and squeezes her eyes shut. Owen notices her struggling to find the words.<br/>
“Hey..” He whispers, “You can tell me as little or as much as you want. Don’t feel obligated to say anything that you aren’t comfortable with. Either way, I’m here and it’s okay.”<br/>
He places his hand over hers on the concrete and wraps his fingers around her palm. Michelle clears her throat and opens her eyes. She feels ridiculous. This whole thing makes her feel stupid and weak, even though she knows that’s far from the truth.<br/>
“I don’t know what we had, or when it began really. He was an asshole ninety percent of the time, but that other ten percent is what kept me around. Honestly, it was embarrassing to be with him in public sometimes, especially when people knew we were together. We are polar opposites. Anyway, the ten percent of good didn’t last very long, maybe five months and that’s pushing it.”<br/>
She places her other hand on top of his, rubbing her thumb back and forth. She can feel herself starting to get antsy, but holding onto him seemed to help a little.<br/>
“The first time it happened, it was shortly after he had gotten his diagnosis, I was washing his dishes. He had these very expensive wine glasses and for whatever reason he loved them. He would show them to everyone and anyone, any chance he got. Well, one of them broke while I was cleaning it. Just shattered in my hand, I have no idea how or why, but it did. I panicked and instantly felt horrible. He heard it break and came into the kitchen. First, he was concerned. He asked if I was okay, he reached for my hands to check them, but he quickly realized what broke. He started screaming at me. It scared me because he had never spoken to me like that before, or to anyone that I had heard. He started saying that I ruin everything and I was so careless and selfish. Obviously, that pissed me off, so I started yelling back. He shoved me a few times and would not get out of my face. I shoved him back. I managed to get out of the kitchen, grab my keys and my bag. He stood in front of the door and asked where the hell I thought I was going. I didn’t answer him, I just kept trying to push him out of the way and leave.”<br/>
She pauses again and Owen squeezes her hand.<br/>
“It’s okay,” he whispers.<br/>
She inhales sharply and lets out a dry laugh before continuing,<br/>
“Uh, he had this, um, glass table in his living room. It wasn’t that big, about the size of a coffee table. He grabbed me by my shoulders and pushed me, hard. Harder than I ever thought he could, and I lost my footing. I fell into the table and it broke. I don’t remember how I got out after that, I blacked out, but I never went back. I still have a scar on my shoulder. But, um, you’d think I’d be smart enough to press charges, but I didn’t. I didn’t file a restraining order. I just hoped that because I left as soon as I could, without looking back, that he would leave me alone.”<br/>
Michelle shakes her head, trying to hold back tears. Owen pulls one of his hands away and puts his arm around her. He pulls her closer and holds her tightly but gently.<br/>
“He would show up at my apartment, sometimes at my office. There was a few times he would force me to have sex with him. And you would not believe how angry that made me. How furious I was that I wasn’t strong enough to keep him away. A short while later, I threatened him with the police. I had proof, so he couldn’t deny it. That was the last thing he wanted, a record. So, it worked and he hasn’t bothered me since. Until tonight, so yeah, forgive me for smoking?”<br/>
Michelle tilts her head up to look at him. Before she knew it, her story, her secret, was out. She has never felt as vulnerable as she does right now. She only wants people to see the strong part of her, the part people wouldn’t dare mess with. She likes to be the shoulder to cry on, the support system, not the other way around. Owen feels so many emotions at once. Anger, sadness, but also pride. He knows that if he ever sees Billy again, he is going to kick his ass. He is pained that Michelle, the kindest person alive, has endured such a trauma. She didn’t deserve any of that. However, he’s also proud of her. She handled it better than I ever could.<br/>
“You are truly the strongest person I know and I am so beyond proud of you.” Owen says, looking into her eyes. He wants her to listen to everything he has to say.<br/>
“You’re proud of me?” She asks, clearly she wasn’t expecting to hear that.<br/>
“More than anything. You had the strength to get yourself out, you had the strength to keep going afterward, and you had the strength to stand your ground. I mean, look at you now. You were doing great things already, but now? You are on top of the world.”<br/>
He wraps his other arm around her, embracing her. He places his lips on top of her head, not kissing her, just holding them there. He closes his eyes taking in the scent of her hair and taking in the moment. He loves that she was able to tell him that and he loves that she’s letting him comfort her.<br/>
Michelle sighs, feeling a sense of relief. Feeling like a weight she didn’t even know she had, has been lifted. She also can’t help but notice the butterflies in her stomach. He has never held her like this before, but she doesn’t mind in the slightest. In fact, she doesn’t want to move from this spot.<br/>
“Thank you,” she whispers.<br/>
She can feel him smile softly against her head. She knows this night is coming to an end, but she doesn’t want it to. She could never tell him that, even if she wanted to. She stays in his arms a little while longer, neither of them saying anything, before Owen breaks the silence.<br/>
“We should get you home, it’s late.”<br/>
However, he doesn’t pull away.<br/>
Michelle groans softly, “I guess”.<br/>
She pulls away first, but stops to meet his gaze. She hadn’t realized how warm he felt until she instantly gets chills. He reaches up and moves a piece of hair behind her ear, then cups her cheek with his hand. Owen’s heart aches for her and he wants nothing more than to take care of her right now and in the future. He doesn’t want to leave her side.<br/>
“Are you okay,” he pauses, “enough to go home I mean?”<br/>
He keeps his hand on her face and runs his thumb across her cheekbone.<br/>
She looks away from his eyes unable to come up with a good enough answer. She looks so exhausted and hurt, she has that puppy dog look in her eyes.<br/>
“Okay,”<br/>
Owen stands up and helps Michelle to her feet. He takes her hand and guides her through the parking lot. She sees his headlights flash twice,<br/>
“Get in,” he opens the door for her.<br/>
“You don’t have to-“ she starts,<br/>
“Please,” he cuts her off.<br/>
Michelle climbs into his small, but sporty car. After she gets settled, he shuts her door and climbs into the drivers seat. He turns the heat up halfway, and keeps the radio volume low. He drives with one hand on the wheel, and the other arm resting on the center console. He doesn’t say where they’re going, and Michelle doesn’t ask. </p><p>Michelle kept her eyes shut for most of the ride, time practically sped past. Before she knew it they had arrived at her apartment. Owen gets out first, then opens Michelle’s door and helps her out. She leads the way to the second floor. As soon as they get in, she slides her shoes off and plops down on the couch.<br/>
“Do you need anything?” Owen asks, taking his shoes off.<br/>
She shakes her head, “No, thanks.”<br/>
He goes to sit on her love seat instead of by her.<br/>
“Sit by me?”<br/>
She managed to ask before he sits down. Owen smiles and sits next to her, putting his arm around her. She swings her legs onto the couch and lays her head in Owen’s lap. She is too tired to sit up, but not tired enough to go to bed. She also knows he doesn’t mind. He runs his fingers through her hair, rubbing her head. He knew, right then, he had to break it off with Zoe. He wants one person on this earth, and that’s Michelle. He wants to learn her, love her, and care for her, if she’ll give him the chance. That’s a conversation for a different day though. Owen’s neck begins to hurt from sitting in the same position too long. He very carefully lifts Michelle’s head from his lap, not sure if she’s awake or sleeping. He lies down behind her holds her close. If he could stay like this forever, he would.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please comment, let me know what you think!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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